


Circling

by todisturbtheuniverse



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Drabble, F/F, Flirting, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-13
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:17:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1780480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/todisturbtheuniverse/pseuds/todisturbtheuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Initial overtures and a spark of interest on a cold, rainy night. Written and posted pre-Inquisition release.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Circling

Cassandra is good at keeping watch, but that doesn’t mean she likes it.

It’s a lonely endeavor—their little group taking shelter off the road, still a day’s ride from friendly territory. It’s even worse in the rain. The trees shelter them from most of the wet, but there’s still mud in various stages of drying everywhere on her boots and clothes. She won’t even bother with her bedroll when her watch is done; she’ll go to sleep right here, back braced against the rough bark of a gnarled old tree, sword bare across her knees, shield strapped to her arm.

 _If_  she sleeps. It’s hard to sleep in this world, when the dribble of rain could mask enemy footsteps or the sound of the Breach ripping into the world anew.

Varric snores. The Inquisitor mumbles something unintelligible in her sleep. Stiff from the combination of cold and humidity, Cassandra gets to her feet, flexing feeling back into her fingers in preparation for another check of their perimeter.

"Would you like company, Seeker?"

Across the fire, Vivienne sits up, running a hand over her long hair. Her fingers pick at a few tangled curls and then tuck the mass behind her ear. In the morning it will be pinned and braided beneath her hat again, neat and orderly, but for now it’s a rebellious mass around her shoulders.

"My watch isn’t done," Cassandra replies, with just a touch of irritation. "I can handle it."

”I’ve no doubt,” Vivienne agrees, a practiced smile curling her lips. “I only thought you looked lonely.”

Vivienne possesses a disarming personality, carefully cultivated to put everyone around her off-balance. Cassandra hates it. She hefts her shield, settling it on her arm, and doesn’t look at Vivienne.

"You are mistaken," she declares. She has found that speaking bluntly to the mage is the best way to quiet her.

"No doubt," Vivienne quips. Her bedroll rustles as she slips out of it, picking up her staff. "Still, these woods are filled with surprises."

She doesn’t ask permission, but then, it isn’t Cassandra’s to give. The Inquisitor is the only woman who can truly give them orders, and she doesn’t exercise that right very often. Cassandra nods and turns to the shadows beyond their fire, fingers firm around the hilt of her sword.

Side-by-side, they walk in silence. Vivienne’s robes whisper over the damp leaves; the sound blends with the trickle of rainwater, slowed by the canopy overhead. She conjures a wisp to guide their way, dim enough to maintain most of their night vision. A different sort of cold pricks at Cassandra’s skin—the sharp touch of magic.

Cassandra strains to hear an out-of-place noise, but there is nothing. If there are surprises here, they are all sleeping.

"Cassandra," Vivienne whispers suddenly, so quietly that the other woman almost misses it. Her hand lashes out, seizing Cassandra’s sword arm. "Listen."

They stop dead, spirit wisp winking out. Vivienne frees her staff from her back with one hand, fingers still tight on Cassandra’s arm. There, barely discernible amidst the irregular drip of rainwater, a methodic footstep falls.

Cassandra nods, gesturing to their right with her shield. Vivienne goes, boots soft on the layer of underbrush. Cassandra circles around to the left. Perhaps she doesn’t like the Enchanter much, but they’ve fought together for some time now, and their strategy is airtight. While she grabs the would-be assailant’s attention, Vivienne will attack, making the target easy for Cassandra to finish off.

Except—she stops, lowering her sword, a chuckle tickling her throat. Except their would-be assailant is a fawn, picking uncertainly over the uneven ground. Cassandra glances up, grinning ruefully, and catches Vivienne in a rare moment of wonder: a genuine smile curving her lips, her features animated with delight. She shifts, as though to move a bit closer, and the fawn hears her; ears flapping wildly, it bounds off into the forest. She laughs, a startled, pleased sound. Her gaze turns away from the fleeing animal to meet Cassandra’s.

Cassandra swallows, caught off guard by the sudden swell of warmth in her chest, and looks away. She’s suddenly anxious not to see the transition as Vivienne composes herself; perhaps then the moment will remain a pleasant one. There are so few of them now, with the world teetering on the brink of destruction.

The leaves rustle beneath Vivienne’s footsteps. When Cassandra looks up, she’s still smiling—admittedly with an edge of self-deprecation.

"Come, Seeker," she invites. "I’m sure there are more woodland creatures in need of a good scare."

Reluctantly, Cassandra smiles back.


End file.
